


glittering gold and loneliness

by VerdantMoth



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M, Magical Realism, Pining, Rhodey Is a Good Bro, War, ambiguous ending, siren!tony, touch starved
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-24
Updated: 2020-04-24
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:34:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 935
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23823160
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VerdantMoth/pseuds/VerdantMoth
Summary: This is what he doesn’t tell him; there’s a monster down the well. A beautiful, terrible, horrible creature down there, and he gets why men lose their minds in the caves.
Relationships: James "Rhodey" Rhodes/Tony Stark
Comments: 8
Kudos: 46





	glittering gold and loneliness

Rhodey says to his CO, “There’s no treasure down that cave. Nothing the Government could use, anyway.”

This is what he doesn’t tell him; there’s a _monster down the well._ A beautiful, terrible, horrible creature down there, and he gets why men lose their minds in the caves. 

His CO nods because this is James Rhode. He’s a good recruit, a loyal recruit. His mama raised him right and true and honest, and he don’t lie.

Rhodey isn’t lying now. Not entirely, anyway. There’s no treasure down there. And what is down there might fascinate the Government, but it won’t be useful. Not anytime soon.

Rhodey watches the skies light up with fire, watches his CO study the smoke with a frown. “Well, we’re tasked with guarding it no matter what is or isn’t down there.”

Rhodey nods, “I got it, Sir.”

And he does. It’s why he was sent down there to begin with. ‘Cause he’s good, and honest, and he works hard without question or complaint.

-

Down is not dark, like Rhodey first expected. The walls are dotted with something, bacteria or a small creature, that glows a soft red, and the water is tinged gold and gentle. 

At first, the tail had horrified him. He wondered if anyone was going to come down after him, collect what was left. Probably not. And his mama was gonna find him in the afterlife and beat his ass.

Now though, he _likes_ the almost metallic scales that flick past him, dotting him with cold water.

Rhodey doesn’t speak any language but English, but he doesn’t need to, to understand the _tragedy_ in the creature’s song. 

His heart aches, and he lays on his belly with one hand in water following the way the liquid flows. It’s a sad song, a lonely song, and it echoes about the cave enough that Rhodey sobs with it.

Brown eyes, almost human save for the sharp corners, trail his cheeks. Smooth, webbed fingers follow. 

“Do you,” Rhodey begins. He feels foolish. “What is your name?”

The babble he gets back is high pitched and rapid. Rhodey things that even if it were in english, he wouldn’t get it. 

He points to himself and says, “Rhodey.”

The creature points at itself and says, “Rhoh-dey?”

Rhodey laughs, and the creature, the… the boy? The boy frowns at him. He speaks again, too fast and the accent almost familiar and then he points at Rhodey, points at himself. “Ton-ey.”

“Tony,” Rhodey tries. It’s not as beautiful in his own accent, but the boy lights up and he babbles at Rhodey and swims too fast to track.

-

What no one told Rhodey is that he’s not allowed out until everything is over. Whatever _that_ means. When the war is over? When this territory is nothing but ash? When his CO retires? 

Mostly he doesn’t care. Huge crates of supplies, food and clothing and tools, are dropped down to him periodically.

Tony _loves_ the crates. Rhodey loves watching him chirp and chatter and construct. Tony takes wood and nails and whatever Rhodey doesn’t care for (strings and food wrapping and aluminum foil packets), and he makes… things.

Rhodey ain’t real sure what some of it is, but Tony hums while he works and sings when he shows Rhodey.

They’re songs of exploration, of creation. Sometimes Rhodey thinks he understands the words; how creatures were born in the dark of the ocean. How they sang to each other to find a family, to find each other. How they tried to breach the surface.

Rhodey doesn’t like when the song twists there. When it gets dark and red and as violent as the bombs cracking above them.

But he likes them better than the melancholy things Tony sometimes sinks into. 

Usually, it's when Rhodey is falling asleep. He sleeps by the water’s edge, wrapped in blankets and fatigues, Tony’s strange and sharp nails cascading across his scalp. They’re songs that seep into Rhodey’s dreams. Melodies about being cast out, lost. About being so lonely, hungry for something other than food. Songs about violence wrapped in gentle words but quick fist.

Rhodey sometimes wakes up crying, and usually, Tony has retreated to wherever he goes.

-

Rhodey never expected to die down here.

So when the bomb goes off, when the entrance to the cave, that pinprick of light and hope fades out in a crash of stone and fire and metal, he doesn’t know what to do.

Tony does.   
Tony _sings_ in that strange, accented language. 

And Rhodey can see; he can see the city sprawling down below on black sand. Lit up by the same soft glows in a million colors. The city is made out of materials Rhodey doesn’t have names for, soft but sturdy. Beautiful, twisty structures that would be worth _millions_ on the surface. Maybe billions.

Rhodey is leaning over the edge, staring into the water and searching.

The city is empty, and now Rhodey knows why Tony is so lonely. 

Tony beckons with slender fingers. _Come, flybird, come away with me._

He can’t. He shouldn’t.

_Come, and see what I see. Trust me, I’ll save you._

Rhodey is…

He’s lonely. And Tony is beautiful, kind.

Rhodey leans over the edge a little further. He lets Tony cup his hands, kiss him with a mouth that’s surprisingly dry.

_Come stay with me, I’ll take care of you._

Tony pulls him down. Down, and down, and _down,_ and the lights dim, but Rhodey breathes in Tony’s air and holds him close.

_Don’t let me go, you’ll never leave?_

No, Rhodey decides, he’ll never leave.


End file.
